[Bristol-Birds] Golden Eagle and Common Raven Dogfight

Travis Ratliff and I decided to do a couple of hours of birding before the 
rains hit Russell County today. We started with 3 male Northern Pintails mixed 
in with 75 plus Mallards at the mudhole at Elk Garden.
We travelled on to Corn Valley and were treated to quite a show. As we parked 
and got out of the truck to scan the mountains we saw a couple of Ravens 
soaring above the ridge line. We then saw 2 immature Golden Eagles come out of 
the treeline. One of them had a large object in his talon and he and his 
companion began to play a game. The one would soar over the ridge then drop the 
object and then catch it before it hit the ground. The companion would follow 
behind and then chase the other back over the ridge. After they tired of the 
game one of the Eagles left but the other began slowly circling the ridgeline 
and of course the Ravens began chasing. Travis and I watched a continuing 
dogfight between the Eagle and the Ravens. The Eagle would soar high with the 
Ravens in pursuit and then would dive towards the ground with 2 Ravens hot on 
his tail.Then the Eagle and the Ravens would emerge from the treeline in a 
vertical climb except this time the Eagle was
 doing the chasing. The number of Ravens kept increasing until there were 12 or 
more still soaring with the Eagle. Each time the Eagle would roll onto his back 
with the talons up the Ravens stopped their pursuit and scattered. This went on 
for over 10 minutes and all of this time I did not see the Golden Eagle flap 
his wings. It was a spectacular exhibit of flying skills.
Oh yes, we also saw 4 Red-tailed Hawks, 2 American Kestrels, 1 Sharp-shinned 
Hawk, 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, numerous Cedar Waxwings and Yellow-rumped 
Warblers.
 

Tom Hunter
Tom & Laverne Hunter
Russell County Bird Club
Lebanon, VA

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